The Monkeylizard Clan
by Silver Square
Summary: When three Jedi Initiates fail their trials, they have two choices: Join the Jedi Service Corps or become a civilian. They choose the third option.
1. Chapter 1

The Holovid blared loudly, the sound of blaster fire echoing from the speakers. "Will you turn the blasted thing off!" one of the rooms occupants - a Human male with brown hair - shouted.

"No! It's getting to the good part!" the second occupant – a Human male with sandy blond hair– replied. "You've already watched it 50 times!" the first one told him. The room's third and final occupant –a Togruta, and the group's only female- sat in the middle of the room, a bored expression on her face. Her name was Jade. Before she could tell either of them to knock it off, a message came through the room's speaker. "All remaining members of the Monkey-lizard clan please report to the Jedi Council." The blond-haired boy stood up and turned off the Holovid before turning to the others. "That's us, guys. They said we have to report-" "We're right here, Lewenian!" The other boy -Cindro- informed him loudly. "You are? Oh, right," Lewenian replied.

As the three exited the room, Lewenian spoke up again. "Why do we get stuck with the stupid clan name?" He asked to no one in particular. "Why can't we have a cool one, like Dragon or Wolf? I'd even settle for Mouseclaw; it's less stupid then the one we got." "Lewenian," Cindro said. "Shut up."

"That's not very nice," Lewenian started, sounding offended. He did not continue, however, when he realized they had reached the Council room.

One by one, the Jedi Initiates walked in. Cindro and Jade immediately bowed, followed by Lewenian, though this was more from pain after Jade had elbowed him. Mace Windu addressed them. "You all failed your trials," he began, and the Initiates felt their hearts sink. "In addition to this, you have all turned thirteen, and therefore will not be able to retake the trials." Lewenian was still smiling, not quite comprehending what he was hearing. "You have two choices: Join the Jedi Service Corps and continue to serve the Jedi without a lightsaber, or become civilians and apply what you have learned here to everyday life. We will allow you an hour to decide." Mace finished, looking grim as ever.

The Younglings returned to their respective rooms, grabbing their training lightsabers as well as some changes in robes, before meeting back at their main room. They stuffed their belongings in bags, as well as enough rations to last them a few days.

"So," Lewenian said, trying to break the silence, what are we going to do?"

Cindro spoke up. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm not gonna join the Service Corps, and I'm sure as heck not going to become a civilian."

Jade took her turn speaking. "I have on my Holopad the seven basic forms of lightsaber combat. I think we'll be able to get by with that."

"One problem," Cindro said. "How are we going to leave?"

"By ship, of course. I found one in the scrap-pile a while ago, but it's still flyable." Lewenian answered, smiling.

At this Jade interrupted. "Do you actually know how to fly it?" she asked.

"No, but how hard could it be?" Lewenian asked, unfazed.

Elsewhere in the temple, Yoda smiled to himself. _Work together, these Initiates will, _Yoda thought._ Trust in the Force, and safe, they shall be._


	2. Chapter 2

One standard hour later

"Your going to get us killed!" Jade screamed at Lewenian. As far as Cindro was concerned, Lewenian was about as good a pilot as a crystal snake.

"One question," Cindro said. "Is it luck keeping us alive, or is it the Force?"

Lewenian turned to him. "Personally, I think it's my piloting skills and lightning quick reflexes. Hwah hyah!"

Lewenian waved his hands around and accidentally turned the ship so that they almost ran into a building.

"Pull up!" Jade yelled. Lewenian pulled up in the nick of time, narrowly avoiding the side of the building. He then began to pull out of the atmosphere. Cindro, meanwhile, was praying to all the cosmos in the universe that they wouldn't get smashed to a pulp.

Luckily, they made it into space in one piece. Jade managed to convince Lewenian to turn on auto-pilot and they all lounged onboard the ship, Jade reading her Holopad, Cindro and Lewenian playing a competitive game of dejarik. After several games that resulted in Cindro losing, Lewenian remembered something.

"Uh, guys?" he asked uncertainly. "Who programmed the auto-pilot?"

Cindro looked up worriedly. "You did, didn't you?" he questioned.

"No," Lewenian said. "Jade, did you do it?" Jade glared vibroblades at him.

"I'll take that as a no." Lewenian said. He then hurriedly checked the navicomputer.

"I can't read this," he stated. "It's in some kind of foreign language." Jade came up behind him.

It's in Aurbesh, nerf-brain."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Standard Basic?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Can you read this?" the Togruta asked, holding up a report on her Holopad in High Galactic. Lewenian looked at it. "Yes."

"So you learned the language mostly used by nobles, but you don't master the common, everyday language of the Republic?" she asked, exasperated.

"Yep, pretty much." Lewenian replied.

Jade flipped a few switches, and soon had all the displays in High Galactic.

"Where are we going?" Cindro asked.

"It looks like we're headed for Yavin IV." Lewenian informed him.

"What! Why?" Cindro asked frantically.

"How am I supposed to know?" Lewenian asked him.

"You're the pilot." Cindro stated.

"I know that." Lewenian told him. "So, does anyone feel in the mood for a luxurious vacation on a jungle moon?" he asked, the sarcasm in his voice obvious.

"No!" Cindro half-yelled.

Lewenian rolled his eyes. "It was a rhetorical question."

When they finally landed, a landing which involved pure dumb luck, the three ex-Initiates clambered down the ramp. Jade, having the keenest eyesight had been quick to point out a suitable landing point. They each took out their respective training sabers and ignited them. Cindro and Lewenian had figured out how to project the Holopad images on the side of the ship, making it easier to study the positions.

After practicing routinely for several days, it became clear that Jade preferred Shien. Lewenian, on the other hand, preferred a mix of Soresu and Ataru. Cindro utilized both Soresu and Djem So while occasionally falling back on Shii-Cho.

When they finished their practice for the day, it was nightfall and they collapsed in a heap when they reached their respective quarters.


	3. Chapter 3

The three young Jedi-to-be awoke refreshed from a good night's sleep. After a flavorless breakfast of rations, Jade addressed the group. "I've been thinking," At this Cindro and Lewenian broke out into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Jade ignored them and continued what she was saying. "We should build our own lightsabers. Our training sabers are nearly too small for us to use properly anyway. The only problem is that we don't have anything to use aside from the crystals in our training sabers, though I'm even not sure we can use those." Lewenian then spoke up. "Yes we do. There is tons of junk in the ship. I'm sure we can find something." "Great," Cindro said. "Let's get to work."

By the end of the week, each of them had completely different lightsabers. Lewenian's lightsaber had an aqua blade. The hilt was reminiscent of that belonging to Jedi Master/HoloNet hero Obi-Wan Kenobi, albeit Lewenian's had a more worn/beat-up look. Cindro's lightsaber, -which emitted a green blade- had a far simpler design. It was made of a bronze-colored material and had a leather grip. Lastly, Jade's violet-bladed lightsaber had a hilt design which bore a strong resemblance to that of Padawan Ahsoka Tano, the only difference being that Jade's was black in color.

As for the crystals, after discovering that they could not use those powering the training lightsabers, Jade opted to grow her own, intending to use it for her lightsaber. However, she never got the chance, as Cindro and Lewenian discovered a supply of crystals in the ruins of what appeared to be some sort of Temple. The crystal chosen by Jade, as she discovered after constructing her lightsaber, seemed to almost think for itself. It was as if the Force itself was channeling energy through the crystal, ergo the lightsaber. Lewenian chose a crystal that was somewhat crude. Unbeknownst to him at the time, after tuning and adjusting the crystal, his lightsaber would not work for anyone but himself. Cindro's crystal was one that he had found before they left Coruscant, so it had sentimental value.

After admiring each other's lightsabers, Jade got down to business.

"I think we're ready to leave," she said.

"What do you mean 'leave'?" Cindro asked curiously.

"Well, I think that we have become skilled enough to actually help out in the war."

"We've only been on this Yavin IV for a week," Cindro said, beginning to panic. "We can't join in the war. We could get shot at, blown up, chopped up-"

"Oh will you shut up!" Lewenian interrupted. "Look we've made it this far, right?" He then turned to Jade. "I'm in," he stated. They turned, looking at Cindro expectantly. "Fine, but if we die, it's your fault." he told them. Lewenian started up the ship. Soon, they were flying away from the Yavin IV, toward civilization. Unfortunately, trouble struck sooner than planned.

"Guys, we're nearly out of fuel. I'm gonna try and land on that small moon, but you might want to brace for a crash landing." Lewenian warned.

The ship crashed down toward the dock, but Lewenian was able to keep enough control over it to avoid any fatal damage.

"That went well," he said, more to himself then anyone else.

After they disembarked, Cindro checked the damage while Lewenian went with Jade to inquire about more fuel. Finished with his task, Cindro rushed to join the others.

"Good news," he told them. "The damage isn't that bad. Well, it's bad in the long run, but not bad enough that we can't use the ship." Jade breathed a sigh of relief. She then turned her attention back to the Toydarian that was selling the fuel. He refused to trade it to them, as they did not have any credits to pay him. _Why can't he just give the fuel to us_, she thought impatiently.

"Why can't I just give you the fuel?" it asked them. It then proceeded to fill their ships fuel supply while the former Monkey-lizard members looked on in amazement.

"Hurry," Jade said. "Before it realizes it was swindled."

Once they had taken off and turned on the auto-pilot, they discussed what had happened.

"Mind tricks don't work on Toydarians," he said. "Everybody knows that."

"Then I guess I have a gift. I didn't say it or wave my hand or anything. I just thought it and it happened."  
"Wait," Lewenian said. "If you can do that, what if I can fly?"

"You are flying. We all are." Cindro told him.

"I mean by myself." He attempted to do this by jumping off the chair, which resulted in him landing on his face. "I can't fly." He stated dejectedly. As Jade and Lewenian went to their separate rooms, Cindro decided to meditate, something that had always come easy to him. Except, instead of the wholeness he usually felt, the Force spoke to him.

It was the voice of a Jedi, one that he'd heard before, but he couldn't quite place it.

"You, Cindro, along with your friends Jade and Lewenian, have the makings of powerful Jedi. You each possess gifts, the like of which the Council has only seen once or twice before, if at all." Before Cindro could figure out a way to ask the voice what it meant, it continued. "Jade, as you have guessed by now, has the gift of Mind Manipulation. She has the ability to manipulate the minds of any being, no matter how strong their will. Only those powerful in the Force can resist it. Lewenian possesses the controversial gift of what user Plo Koon has dubbed Electric Judgement. Its distinction from Sith Lightning is undetermined, though Master Koon maintains that it is a neutral ability, not of the Light or Dark, but that it simply is. You, Cindro, possess the gift of Force camouflage, more specifically, the ability to bend light and sound waves around yourself photo-kinetically. Normally, this would require a great deal of concentration to create and maintain. You, however, seem to be able to turn it on and off like a switch, with very little concentration and, even rarer, almost no side effects."

"Are you done now, or are you going to keep talking?" Cindro asked out loud. The only answer was the echo of his voice through the ship.


	4. Chapter 4

Lewenian made his way to the cockpit. When he got there, he switched off auto-pilot and took control of the ship. Lewenian was by no means good at meditation; he had stopped doing it when he turned eight standard years old due to the fact that all he could picture while meditating was a brain. Despite this, he felt a strange urge to take the ship to a planet they were nearing. It didn't show up on the navcomputer, probably because it was an old ship, but Lewenian piloted the ship towards it anyway. As they passed into the atmosphere, he noticed signs of some sort of battle going on and soon he could make out droids of all shapes and sizes advancing from a Separatist base on dwindling Republic forces. More surprising, however, was the fact that there was a base at least twice the size on the other side of the planet. He couldn't see the base, but he could definitely sense it. It was then that Lewenian felt like doing something stupid, so of course he listened to it. He sent out a message to Jade and Cindro through the Force, telling them to grab their lightsabers and prepare for some action. Taking the ship in low, Lewenian flew it straight at the Seppies, making sure to activate the shields so as to minimize damage to the ship. As the droids crashed beneath him, he switched auto-pilot back on before opening the hatch and jumping out, with Jade and Cindro right behind.

Jade ignited her lightsaber with a _snap-hiss_, its amethyst blade twirling to deflect an oncoming blaster-bolt. She landed on her feet, taking down a battle droid in one swipe. Jade, Cindro and Lewenian fought side by side, chopping down droids and clearing a path for the clone troopers. It was then that Jade felt something that shocked her. Cindro _disappeared_, not just from view, but in the Force as well. She felt his presence a moment later as he appeared behind her, whirling his lightsaber from behind the droids that had been focusing on herself and Lewenian.

Lewenian felt something. It was like a feeling in his gut, telling him to stretch out his hand. He obeyed and opened himself up to the Force. As he did so, he felt something click into place mentally. The next thing he knew, lightning the same aqua color of his lightsaber was flowing from his fingertips, short-circuiting droids that got in its path. It must have caused some damage, because before he could so much as blink, clone troopers were charging the droids and the Sep commander was ordering a retreat. Switching off his lightsaber, Lewenian found himself staring at a woman. She was Human, with black hair reaching just past her shoulders. He felt like he'd seen her around the Temple before, but he couldn't remember. She looked down at him in what looked like surprise before regaining her composure.

"Who are you?" she demanded. It probably came out harsher than she intended, because she said it again, except softer.

"Lewenian. Who are you?" he answered obviously.

"Bultar Swan. Where is your Master?" She asked, this time more soothingly.

"I don't have one," he told her. Before she had the chance to ask him what he meant, he continued.  
"Me, Cindro, and Jade failed our Initiate Trials. We couldn't retake the test 'cause we're passed the age limit. So we left on a ship I fixed up." At this point, Cindro broke in and picked up where Lewenian left off.

"We ended up on a jungle moon, Yavin IV, and honed our lightsaber skills using Hologram stills of the Forms." Jade took her turn.

"Then we built our own lightsabers, crashed onto some Force-forsaken planet, 'borrowed' some fuel, and made our way here." Jedi Knight Bultar Swan stared at the three Younglings before her, speechless for the first time she could remember. She was interrupted when the clone CC-76-4225, aka Stoner, delivered his report.

"The clankers have drawn back to the base, General. We tried to blast through, but the shields are too strong for even our tanks." He reported hurriedly. Then he noticed the Monkey-lizard clan.

"What's with the midgets?" He asked.

"The 'midgets' are Jedi _Padawans _that are under my command. They arrived moments ago." She added, seeing the look of confusion on the clone captain. Once he had left, Bultar turned to the group.

"How could you have survived those droids with the little experience you have?" she asked them.

"Well," Lewenian started. "I can do this." He proceeded to gather the lightning in his hands, accidentally zapping himself in the process. Cindro then took control.

"Jade has the unique power of a remarkably strong Mind Manipulation. She was able to convince a Toydarian to give us fuel for free." Cindro stated, smiling. Bultar Swan, however, looked shaken at this information, coupled with Lewenian's demonstration.

"And I can do this." Cindro turned on his Force camouflage, instantly disappearing from both view and the Force. He turned it off a moment later. By this time, Bultar looked about ready to faint. Using the calming techniques she had been taught, she was able to calm herself to a normal breathing pace.

"Let's not forget, there's still a battle to be won here," Jade reminded. "Those droids won't wait for long." Sure enough, the droids began another attack, blasting away at the clones. Cindro knew then what he had to do. Addressing the Jedi General, he told her his plan.

"Just focus on the droids. We'll deal with the base." He told her. Before she could argue, he rapped himself, Lewenian, and Jade in his "Force cloak" and the three of them made their way toward the enemy base.


	5. Chapter 5

Stoner fired his blaster, taking down yet another droid. Diving out of the way of blaster fire, he found himself crouched next to CT-4353, known as Arrow because of his accuracy with long range weaponry. Arrow turned to him.

"I don't know about you, but I could do with a few Jedi right about now." Arrow tossed a thermal detonator toward the advancing droids, the resulting blast not even making much of a dent in the enemy lines.

"No, I'm with you," Stoner answered, wincing as yet another one of his clone brothers went down. "I just don't know how much longer we can keep this up." As he said this, Arrow dashed out from behind the cover, shoving CT-2847, aka Jorj, to the ground.

"Thanks, CT-4353, that was a close shave."

"How many times do I have to tell you my name is Arrow?" Arrow asked.

"Maybe five more times," Jorj joked. He stood up, firing his rotary blaser cannon at the droids.

"Keep your head down," Stoner warned him. The three clones threw the last of the thermal detonators.

"I hope the General has a plan," Arrow said. "Because I really don't feel like dying, especially not on some planet no one knows about."

"If no one knows about it," Jorj started. "Then why are we fighting the Seps for control over it?"

"Less talk, more blastin'!" Stoner told them, picking off a few more droids.

Meanwhile, Cindro, Jade, and Lewenian reached the enemy base.

"Any ideas on how to get inside?" Jade asked. Cindro shook his head, but Lewenian spoke up. "Do you want clever or really clever?" He asked with a smile.

"I want fast," Jade retorted. And so they found themselves falling from the sky. Lewenian's clever idea had been to scale the walls to the top before cutting open the roof with their lightsabers and free-falling until they saw something solid to land on. After barely managing to slow their falls enough to prevent injury, Cindro once again wrapped them all in his "Force cloak" as four destroyer droids rolled past. They inched their way to the main supports, stopping as they saw three battle droids standing guard.

"I can touch my head to the ground," the first one said. "Can not," the second one told it. "You just watch." It then proceeded to touch its head to the ground. With a nod, Cindro, Jade, and Lewenian ignited their lightsabers. Cindro and Jade smoothly sliced through the first two, while Lewenian banged his lightsaber hilt against his hand in a vain attempt to get it to work. "Wait, I'm stuck!" the remaining battle droid yelled, trying desperately to stand back up. Lewenian gave up trying to ignite his saber and just bashed the droid's head with his saber hilt. "Three blasts on that spot should do it," Cindro told them, motioning to a weak spot in the pillar. Picking up the droid weapons, each of them fired a shot, using the Force to guide it.

"What do we do now?" Lewenian asked.

"Um, run?" Cindro suggested.

"Good plan," Lewenian answered. They sprinted through the base before Lewenian motioned them to what looked like a scrap-chute.

"You've got to be joking," Jade said.

"Nope," Lewenian answered. "Ladies first," he added, shoving Jade into the chute. Cindro and Lewenian started shoving each other, both trying to get into the chute before Lewenian got in first, with Cindro diving in just behind him. They got clear just as the base collapsed.

"See," Lewenian said. "Easy as eating a jogan fruit."

Just as he said that, a stray blaster bolt found flesh, hitting him in the shoulder. With a flash of unbearable pain, Lewenian blacked out.


	6. Chapter 6

When Lewenian came to, he was in what looked like a ship. He was also in pain. Not a lot of pain, but just enough that it hurt to move. And he was seeing double. He must have said that last part out loud, because one of the figures answered him.

"Oh, you're not seeing double, sir." He told Lewenian. "I'm CT-2847, or Jorj, and that's Slug. We're clones." He explained. _They must be from that Clone army we heard about at the Temple,_ Lewenian thought. Then he realized something. He couldn't touch the Force. The thought alone sent him into panic.

"Slug, go get the other two Jedi. Tell them their friend's awake." Jorj told him. Slug nodded and left the room. He returned a few moments later, with Cindro and Jade right behind.

"Lewenian, are you okay?" Cindro asked.

"No!" Lewenian exclaimed. "I can't touch the Force. Well, I can, but not enough."

"What!" Jade and Cindro chorused.

"I can touch the Force just enough to be able to duck when I need to, but not enough to use a lightsaber." He explained.

"There could be a number of reasons as to why this happened," Jade explained. "For example, the plasma bolt could have had something in it that has dampened your connection, or maybe it was a well placed shot to one of your nerves that-"

"Oh, shut up," Lewenian growled. "Point is, I can't fight without my lightsaber, and I…think I'm gonna be sick." He grabbed a bucket and vomited into it. He then realized that the 'bucket' was actually a helmet. Slug's helmet, in which he'd just finished tuning the cooling system, was filled half-way with the disgusting substance. Slug looked at it in dismay.

"Sorry," Lewenian mumbled, wiping his mouth and holding out the helmet. Slug took it wordlessly and left to clean it out.

"Anyway, you need to be able to use some type of weapon." Cindro told him. Jorj stepped forward.

"I think I can help with that, sir."

The next morning, Lewenian began his first lesson on blasters.

"There are three main blasters that the standard trooper uses." Jorj picked up a blaster pistol. "This is the DC-17 hand blaster. Mostly we use two of them, like this." He picked up another blaster and fired them both. Arrow had to dive to the ground to avoid the blasts.

"Watch where you're shooting, would ya!" He yelled at Jorj.

"Okay, maybe firing them was a bad idea." Jorj surmised. He put the DC-17s down, picking up a larger blaster.

"This is the DC-15S. It's pretty much a larger version of the DC-17. Or the DC-17 is a smaller version of this. Hmm," He pondered this for a moment.

"Anyway," he continued. "In addition to being able to switch it to rapid-fire, it also comes with a built-in cable so that we can ascend or descend high places. Oh, and it has a stun setting." He put it down and picked up a rifle. "I'll let Arrow show you how this one works." Arrow walked over and picked up the rifle.

"This is the DC-15A blaster rifle. It is more powerful and has a longer range then the DC-15S. I doubt you'll be using it, though. You're not big enough, and it weighs 9.5 pounds. No, for you, I would suggest this." He pulled out a DC-17 hand blaster. "I've modified it myself. It's more reliable then any of the standardized weapons, and it can do this." He raised the pistol, holding down the trigger. Lewenian watched as ten bolts came out in rapid succession. "It does rapid-fire. I wouldn't recommend using it unless you're in a jam, though, because it only has 50 shots. Luckily, you have this." He pulled out a small, black, well, Lewenian wasn't sure what it was. Arrow attached it to the blaster. "It'll give you fifty extra shots, and in a battle, that's all you need." He handed it to Lewenian. "Now let's work on your shooting."

It went well as far as Lewenian was concerned. Arrow thought that he did well for a beginner, but that he needed to work on his aim. A clone trooper, or in this case, Jedi, had to be able to hit a target from a mile away. But it was a start.


End file.
